Abrasive articles, such as coated abrasives and bonded abrasives, are used in various industries to machine workpieces, such as by lapping, grinding, or polishing. Machining utilizing abrasive articles spans a wide industrial scope from optics industries, automotive paint repair industries, to metal fabrication industries. In each of these examples, manufacturing facilities use abrasives to remove bulk material or affect surface characteristics of products.
Surface characteristics include shine, texture, and uniformity. For example, manufacturers of metal components use abrasive articles to fine and polish surfaces, and oftentimes desire a uniformly smooth surface. Similarly, optics manufacturers desire abrasive articles that produce defect free surfaces to prevent light diffraction and scattering.
Manufactures also desire abrasive articles that have a high stock removal rate for certain applications. However, there is often a trade-off between removal rate and surface quality. Finer grain abrasive articles typically produce smoother surfaces, yet have lower stock removal rates. Lower stock removal rates lead to slower production and increased cost.
Particularly in the context of fine grained abrasive articles, commercially available abrasives have a tendency to leave random surface defects, such as scratches that are deeper than the average stock removal scratches. Such scratches may be caused by grains that detach from the abrasive article, causing rolling indentations. When present, these scratches scatter light, reducing optical clarity in lenses or producing haze or a foggy finish in decorative metal works. Such scratches also provide nucleation points or attachment points that reduce the release characteristics of a surface. For example, scratches in sanitary equipment allow bacteria to attach to surfaces, and scratches in polished reactors allow formation of bubbles and act as surface features for initiating unwanted reactions.
Loss of grains also degrades the performance of abrasive articles, leading to frequent replacement. Frequent abrasive article replacement is costly to manufacturers. As such, improved abrasive articles and methods for manufacturing abrasive articles would be desirable.